Microsoft’s Office software and other business programs
helped profit exceed projections last quarter, even as sales of
Windows suffered from sluggish personal-computer orders. Intel
and IBM, meanwhile, both delivered rosier sales forecasts than
some analysts had predicted.

Reports from the trio of companies, with a combined market
value of almost $600 billion and an average lifespan of six
decades, allayed investors’ concerns that a slowdown in Europe,
anemic consumer demand and last year’s floods in Thailand would
hobble the information-technology industry. Corporate customers
haven’t let up on orders, lifting sales at all three companies,
while Intel is getting an extra boost from emerging markets.

“Old dogs can still hunt,” said Pat Becker Jr., a fund
manager at Becker Capital Management in Portland, Oregon. His
firm has invested in all three companies.

The results were a relief for many investors after Oracle
Corp. (ORCL) reported weaker-than-anticipated earnings last month,
fueling speculation that businesses were holding off on
technology spending, said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at
Pacific Crest Securities in Portland.

“The results of these three companies suggest that was an
Oracle-specific event,” Barnicle said.

The positive outlook also contrasted with the earnings of
Google Inc. (GOOG), which also delivered its report yesterday. The
Mountain View, California-based company missed analysts’ sales
and profit estimates, dragged down by the European crisis and a
push into mobile technology, which yields lower ad revenue.
Google shares fell 8.4 percent to $585.99 today.

Sales at Microsoft’s business division, largely made up of
Office products such as Word and Excel, rose 2.8 percent to
$6.28 billion. Analysts had estimated $6.1 billion on average,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company’s Xbox
video-game business also topped projections, generating $4.24
billion in revenue.

Microsoft Profit

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, posted net income
of $6.62 billion, or 78 cents a share. That beat the 76-cent
average estimate.

IBM, the biggest provider of computer services, reported
fourth-quarter earnings of $4.71 a share, excluding some items.
Analysts had predicted $4.62. The Armonk, New York-based
company’s forecast for 2012 earnings also exceeded predictions.

Intel, which dominates the market for computer chips,
expects sales of $12.8 billion, indicating that production is
bouncing back after the Thai flooding. The disaster wiped out a
quarter of the computer industry’s disk-drive production,
delaying shipments of PCs. Research firms Gartner Inc. and IDC
had lowered their PC sales forecasts as a result of the floods.

The supply disruptions hurt revenue at Santa Clara,
California-based Intel last quarter. IBM’s sales also were lower
than expected in the period.

Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Redwood City, California-
based Global Equities Research LLC, says technology companies
still face long-term challenges. Higher gasoline costs, for one,
will both hurt consumer spending and increase the price of raw
materials, he said.

Corporate buyers are showing more resiliency than
consumers, who are reeling from a still-shaky job market.
Businesses are the driving force behind Microsoft, IBM and
Intel’s results, said Michael Holland, chairman of New York-
based Holland & Co., which oversees $4 billion in assets.

“The consumer continues to have unemployment problems and
confidence problems, but businesses are doing everything they
can to grind out profits,” Holland said.